Creation began on 09-02-23
Creation ended on 09-11-23
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Picking up where we left off at the Gym
Opening his eyes, Shinji, who thought he was still in the woods, found that he was in a hospital room, and feeling like he had gone through some kind of issue that was difficult.
A hospital? He wondered, raising up to a sitting position and finding a medical band on his right wrist, indicating the date he was admitted. How long was I out?
"Oh!" He hears a voice gasp and sees a female nurse stepping into the room. "He's up now!"
A male doctor came in and approached Shinji.
"How do you feel?" He asks him.
"Confused by why I'm in a hospital," he answers back. "How long have I been here?"
"Four days. Your friends brought you in after what they described as a near-death experience with a Ghost Pokémon that was too violent for this world."
"Yeah, my… It was my Ursaring that died a few days ago. It came back to come after me."
"One of your friends said that it impaled you in the back and threw you against a tree."
"It did?"
"Can you tell me what the last thing you remember is?"
Shinji told the doctor that the last thing he remembered was…stepping out of the Old Chateau in front of everyone after Ursaring was caught by the ghosts that inhabited the place…but then it got fuzzy afterwards. The doctor suspected that he might be experiencing short-term memory loss as a result of the attack; his brain was taking a while to recall the incident. But beyond that, he was physically fine.
"You have a few visitors," the doctor told him, and in came his Eevee and Jynx, who were happy to see him awake.
"Eevo!"
"Jynx!"
"Eh-heh!" Shinji chuckled, surprised that Katsuragi was here in the Kalos Region. "Hey, you."
It would be a while before Shinji would recall everything that happened, but for now, he was just relieved to with his Pokémon. And he wouldn't be able to make heads or tails about what happened during the time he was unconscious, such as what people around the city were gossiping about that related to him.
-x-
"…That was Misato," went Asuka to Rei, Hikari, Toji and Kensuke as they were in the classroom at school, putting her phone down. "Mister Giovanni called with an update. Shinji's finally awake."
"What a relief," Toji expressed, worried for a moment that their friend wouldn't wake up, despite his life being saved by that Legendary Pokémon they saw in the woods. "Did they say how he was feeling?"
"According to Mr. Giovanni, Shinji only remembers the incident up to when he stepped out of the Old Chateau."
"He doesn't remember being attacked from behind?" Hikari asks.
"No. At least not now."
"Sometimes," said Rei, "when people are attacked viciously, their minds repress certain events as a way of coping with the trauma."
"That Ursaring he caught was bad road," added Kensuke; ever since he and Shinji encountered that Pokémon that showed no sense of remorse for any of the wrongs it committed, all for its own survival, even if it meant disrupting the balance of nature in its environment, he had to wonder if it really fell on Shinji's shoulders to catch it and keep it confined when it demonstrated absolutely no capacity for change. "Now, it's in the Old Chateau where it can never escape."
"There's still one other thing we're refraining from talking about, people," Hikari reminds them, and it's a sour point for her to even bring up. "Do we tell him…or do we not tell him?"
She was referring to Gendo, simply because he was Shinji's father, something none of them were willing to accept as much as they could stand due to the man's animosity towards Shinji for getting displaced by accident and long before any of this even happened. Even though Shinji survived his near-death experience with his Ursaring, it bothered them a little that they had to leave Shinji while he was in recovery and wait for an update on his current status. Further on, it left them concerned whether or not Gendo would even show any remorse over the fact that Shinji nearly died trying to protect others from a fiend that was another example of how some had no hearts and therefore no conscience on what they did to others.
"We're better off not telling him," Rei expresses her opinion on the subject. "Even if he were to find out, he wouldn't change his opinion about Shinji's choice."
"That even if he returned to this world, he wouldn't pilot the Eva again after realizing the truth about his parents?" Toji questions; Asuka and Rei had confided in them about the Evas and why they were the only ones that could pilot them. "It's bad enough that we're doing it, but it's worse for Shinji because they chose to do what they did, knowing that it would…mess him up later when he got older."
"We create our own demons," Asuka states. "They knew they were crossing a line they shouldn't have crossed…and they crossed it, anyway. Their actions had consequences…and one of them was Shinji finding out the truth and making his own choices on how to best deal with them. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he did return and was unable to pilot the Eva again; after all that time he's spent in the Pokémon world, he may not be able to pilot any further, no matter what his parents think."
And again, there was no telling how much Shinji was truly affected by his displacement from their world into the Pokémon world. That and the temporal shift caused by the initial blackout that Gendo had committed in an attempt to interfere with the Giovanni Corporation's interdimensional project, it was impossible to say for sure if Shinji could even pilot the Eva any further. While he might've been fourteen years old in their world, he was nearly twenty in the Pokémon world, same as Kensuke when he was displaced there subconsciously. Plus, Shinji was completely displaced there, not an out-of-body experience or astral projection, but totally ripped from their world and stranded in another where he needed to find his way back. Until they knew more of what they knew very little about, it was anyone's guess as to how Shinji's life would be if and when he returned.
"Oh, jeez!" They heard the teacher gasp as the other students ran over to the windows, seeing something large out front.
Outside the main building, Tama Pāru had landed onto the school grounds and was looking into the windows.
"Pardon my presence," they heard it say to them, "but I'm here to remind friends of Shinji Ikari that I'll be expecting them to show up at the research lab later today. Uh…knowledge is a superpower you all have."
Then, it levitated up and flew away.
"Uh…uh…did anyone have their phones out to record this?" The teacher asks them. "Anyone?"
Some of the students looked to Asuka and the others, as they had the most involvement with Shinji with their permitted periodic absences from school, and they just sigh over this.
"That was a surprise," Kensuke states.
"Surprise, nothing!" One of the school jockeys expresses. "A talking Pokémon came to our school and wanted to remind you five to show up where it's being studied later today! How many people get to experience being told that?!"
-x-
It was just a long shot, but Ritsuko wanted to try something new now that she had the time to do so. Because of the fiasco with Shinji's dead Ursaring trying to kill him, the faux-blond wanted to try creating a version of Full Restore that could be used on humans; if there was a medical remedy that could heal Pokémon instantly, then there had to be one that could work on humans and could heal them of life-threatening injuries. She had made some headway with creating lesser versions of the Hyper and Max Potions that could be used on humans, but they were a stopgap at best. The pursuit of remedies that could lead to near-instantaneous regeneration would be a major medical breakthrough.
"Doctor Akagi," went Maya as she entered the lab where Ritsuko was looking at a small sample of the Full Restore under a microscope again. "Did you hear about Shinji?"
"No, is he alright?" She responds.
"He finally woke up, but he doesn't remember much of what happened."
"What?"
"He doesn't remember being attacked by the Ursaring from behind or nearly dying. Not even anything about Xerneas."
"Memory loss?"
"That's what the doctors there are saying. They just don't know when he'll recall it, though."
Although, it wasn't any different from when Shinji arrived the day the Third Angel attacked and awoke the next day with no recollection (at least not until much later when his brain had time to adjust), Ritsuko had to suspect that Shinji likely repressed the memory as a way to cope with the trauma of being nearly killed by a Pokémon he had caught that held a grudge against him. It was not all that different from other people that had similar traumatic experiences with Pokémon in the past, like the rumors and stories they heard about a Nurse Joy that was afraid of touching Water-Type Pokémon or a little boy that had been frightened by some wild Pokémon in his childhood that left him afraid to be near even one that was helpless around himself. But she didn't think Shinji would let this experience change his perception of all Pokémon; the guy had a greater talent for being a Pokémon Trainer than he ever did being an Evangelion pilot.
"Hyuga, Shigeru and I are going over there later today to see how he's doing," Maya informed her. "Want to come?"
"Yeah, sure, just let me save what I'm doing here."
-x-
His legs were weak at first, but it was because he'd been off them for a while, and Shinji slowly regained strength as he walked around the hospital grounds, trying to come to terms with what happened to him.
"Eee?" He heard Misato say to him as he looked down at her.
"I was really asleep for four days, Misato?" He asks her.
"Eevo."
"Everyone was really worried about me?"
"Eevo."
"And all because of Ursaring?"
"Eee."
He leans against a window and sighs…and then his eyes widen.
Flash! He remembers the stinging feeling of something sharp digging into his back, how much it didn't hurt at first, but then being lifted off his feet and thrown away.
It escaped from the Poké Ball and tried to finish me off, he remembers the hatred of the Ursaring as he slammed against a tree and felt weak all over his body. But then they came back for it and dragged into a Gyarados' mouth, intent on keeping prisoner for eternity. Now, it's locked up in the Old Chateau, unable to escape or anything. Oh!
Shinji lowers to his bottom and shudders.
"Jynx?" He hears Katsuragi say to him as he looks up at his Jynx, holding a bottle of water for him. "Jynx?"
He reached up for the bottle and drinks it empty.
"Gah!" He reacts. "We stopped Ursaring, but I went down. I mean, I got worse than hurt from earlier. When it attacked me and threw me against the tree, I felt like…like I was leaving. But then…then Xerneas appeared and brought me back. That's what happened, wasn't it?"
"Jynx, Jynx."
"Eevo, eee."
Shinji inhaled a new breath and smiled.
"Not something I wish on anyone," he tells them. "Not the meeting of a Legendary Pokémon…but what causes you to suffer prior to meeting one. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. And you waited for me. Thank you."
Now he knew what happened…and had to move on from it as best he could. He couldn't let this experience hold him back from seeking new opportunities in this life he had that was nearly taken from him. And he couldn't let one Pokémon that hated him with a passion affect his personal feelings toward Pokémon in general.
"I've been looking for you," he hears a familiar voice say to him, and he turns to the other end of the hall and sees Prof. Oak. "How are you feeling?"
He gets up and responds, "I just remembered what I had forgotten after stepping out of the Old Chateau. Was it bad luck or just fate?"
"With you, I have to believe that it's all of the above, because you're among the best and brightest when given a chance to show what you're capable of achieving."
"Thank you."
"But tell me… Are you sure you're going to be fine after an ordeal like that?"
"Emotionally or mentally?"
"Both."
"Like with the revelation of my parents' agenda towards me, I'm not entirely over the fact that the ghost of the Ursaring I caught tried to kill me because it was angry with me…but I'll get there, eventually. I'll get there. It's just one Pokémon that misbehaved in all the wrong ways. Maybe one I have to list among Pokémon that have such atrocious behaviors toward others that it was just plain evil instead of misunderstood, something I don't believe is inherent within all Pokémon due to their positive qualities."
"Pokémon behavior isn't all that different from human behavior."
"That's right."
"Eevo."
"Jynx."
Shinji sighs again as he turns to look at the city around them.
"I love being a Pokémon Trainer," he says.
-x-
"…There have been rumors circulating about you over the social media, Ikari," went Fuyutsuki to Gendo as he stood outside his apartment. "That you've been hoping for something to happen to Shinji during his time in the Pokémon world."
"What is it to you?" Gendo questions him, not even trying to hide his contempt towards Shinji.
"Something terrible almost did happen to him a few days ago, and we're all relieved that he pulled through."
"Oh, is that so?"
"A Pokémon he caught a few years back due to its misbehavior died and came back as a ghost with the intent to kill him and almost did. Then he gets his life saved by another Pokémon of legendary status associated to the region he's currently traveling in and recovers in a hospital. It's not something I'd really consider informing you about, but I felt that you should know that, despite your contempt towards Shinji, he's not going anywhere anytime soon because of either you, some criminal enterprise…or a wayward Pokémon that despised him in its life and its death. So…I've said what I need to say to you regarding Shinji's current status…and I shall be going now. Have a nice day."
Walking away from the man, Fuyutsuki had to ponder if there would come a day when Gendo would cease his pointless vendetta towards Shinji and just be proud of his success. Even if it didn't go anywhere in the direction he had wanted, there was no stopping Shinji from doing what he enjoyed and what other people had longed to see him achieve when they found out about his displacement into the Pokémon world. And the publicity of the Pokémon world distributed over the Internet and broadcast over the city was making people hope for Pokémon to be seen more often around this world, something that was getting closer to a reality because of the Giovanni Corporation due to their minor attempts to open smaller openings and bringing in smaller Pokémon; one time, he actually thought he saw a Goldeen in an aquarium display before realizing that it was just a regular fish.
Looking up at the sky, Fuyutsuki saw something flying in some clouds and wasn't sure if he was seeing a regular seagull or a Wingull.
Pokémon, he thought as he looked down at the sidewalk and crossed on a green light. Pocket Monsters. Who knew they'd become such a thing here?
-x-
"…I'm surprised you're back, Kaji," Misato says to her ex as he shows up at the research station where everyone else had gathered. "I thought you would be busy after that time on Mega Island where we found those stones."
"After you told me what happened with Shinji over there because of that Ursaring he caught a few years back in Johto," the unshaven man responded, "I don't know what I was thinking by letting my job be my focus point. I didn't want to believe that a Pokémon, especially one caught by Shinji…would be capable of such brutality."
"None of us wanted to believe that any Pokémon would be capable of what happened. But we were fortunate that Xerneas arrived when it did. And Shinji is expected to recover; all his injuries sustained by the Ursaring were healed up. He just hasn't regained his memory of the attack yet."
"Is he expected to remember anything beyond that day?"
"I hope so, but…it wouldn't be too much of a bad thing if he didn't."
"Except we'd know," went Hyuga to her. "It's not something you forget when it's someone you either know or admire. I still have to look behind me just in case a wayward Pokémon appears and is looking for trouble."
"It was only the Ursaring he caught," stated Maya. "It doesn't mean that every Pokémon is…like that everywhere else."
Soon enough, the teens arrived and saw them. Along with them was Fuyutsuki.
"Is this everyone?" Toji asks.
"Everyone except Pen-Pen," Misato confesses, and Hikari produces the penguin from her backpack, who squawked as he flapped his wings around. "Thank you."
"Asuka said we needed to go get him," Kensuke states. "Are we ready?"
"Is anyone ever ready?" Rei asks him.
-x-
Although the doctors and Prof. Oak told him it wasn't necessary, Shinji still wanted to see the clothes he was wearing the day he was nearly killed by his former Ursaring, and held up the ruins of his white dress shirt and black undershirt. He felt he needed to see them in order to accept the fact that he had almost died because of a Pokémon that had it out for him. Closing his eyes and letting his brain take a second to process this all, he reopened them and turned the dress shirt around to look at the back.
"Jynx, Jynx, Jynx," Katsuragi utters, and Shinji sets the shirt down and sits in his chair behind himself. "Jynx?"
Shinji presses his left hand against his chest and breathes in and out his nose.
"Shinji?" Professor Oak questions.
"It's okay," he tells them. "Just phantom sensation from what happened. It's something I find difficult to understand because it seems like a falsehood. Pokémon that are just as capable of hatred and unnecessary violence as people are…is just unusual because it makes no sense. I mean, I can understand why some Pokémon would be deemed unsettling to varying degrees, such as Primeape and Gyarados, and I can understand that some Pokémon can feel frightened of being around people if they were subjected to unspeakable abuse or some unethical conduct by shady people, but Pokémon that do terrible things to others…simply because they feel like they can and get away with it…just seems off."
"Behavior doesn't always make sense to most," the doctor says to him. "It's not rare or random. It just is."
"Yeah."
Shinji's Eevee hopped onto the table and sniffed the shredded shirts and shuddered at the memory of the Ursaring attacking Shinji.
"Eee," she went, backing away from the shirts.
"Jynx," Katsuragi expresses as she picks Misato up off the table.
Shinji then expresses his being done with looking at the remains of his clothes from that day and asked the doctor to dispose of them; he had extra clothes he could wear for the time being until he needed to buy more.
"So, what now for you, Shinji?" Professor Oak asks him as they walk down the hallway.
"Checking out the hospital, going to the Pokémon Center, then the Poké Mart…and hopefully head back to the Laverre City Gym and ask the Gym Leader for a rematch," Shinji states his goal for later.
"Are you sure you don't want to rest up a little more?"
"I'll rest better when I'm doing something beneficial with my time."
The way Shinji smiled reminded Prof. Oak that this was a young man who longed to escape his past and embrace his future on his own terms. He didn't want to wait any longer than he had been forced to due to a major incident that occurred just a few days ago that he had to contend with because he was involved in the issue. Now that the matter had been resolved, he could pick up where he left off and move on towards his goal of competing in the Kalos League. Not even these brushes with disaster were going to stop him from reaching what he had his sights on.
-x-
"…I was surprised that Tama Pāru went to your school to remind you of coming here," said Antonio to the teens as they entered the chamber. "Surprised due to the fact that Tama Pāru didn't know where your school was."
"Really?" Misato asks, looking at Tama Pāru as it sat where it often did after its container was removed. "But it was able to find them."
"They have a scent that is very displeasing from time to time that lingers for a time," Tama Pāru reveals. "It is due to those behemoths they operate. I followed the stench, which led me to where they were."
"You mean, the LCL?" Rei suggests. "A blood-like smell?"
"Hmm!"
"Now, that's just gross," said Kaji.
"Yeah, it stinks," went Toji. "It always smells like that. Even Shinji hates it."
"Flowers would smell better. The ocean waves. The wind blowing through one's hair or fur. Even the faint scents in the abyss of space."
"There are smells in space?" Ritsuko asks the Legendary Pokémon.
"Stars exploding every day and night leave scents that aren't so different from lesser explosions that Pokémon that are capable of moves such as Explosion or Self-Destruct."
"Whoa," reacted Asuka.
"Electrode!" Electrode went as it rolled over to Antonio. "Electrode."
"No, please," he tells the Ball Pokémon, raising his hands up defensively. "We don't need to see a demonstration of Explosion."
"Electrode!"
"Have you decided on what nickname you're going to give it?" Fuyutsuki asks Antonio.
"Only one nickname seems to fit right now: Boomer."
-x-
"Thank you for your patience," went Nurse Joy to Shinji as she handed him the Poké Ball tray. "All your Pokémon are in perfect health."
"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Shinji replied as he picked up the Poké Ball holding his Eevee and let her out.
"So, I hear you're out of the hospital," he heard Hanmyo say to him from behind, and he turned to face her. "How do you feel?"
"Just getting back into routine."
The girl then tossed him an apple, which he caught with one hand.
"I've been at the gym for the last two days and people have been rebuilding the damaged parts of the city. Where are your Pokémon that came from Kanto to help you?"
"Hisui flew Prof. Oak and Katsuragi back an hour ago; Master wanted to explore this region and since he wasn't part of my current roster, I said it was okay so long as he had a first aid kit with him. Wanted to see what was special about this region that made it stand out among the other regions we've explored."
"So…where to now?"
"Poké Mart. Then after that is the gym."
"Care for company?"
"Are you going anywhere?"
Hanmyo's cats appeared from behind her as she states, "In your dreams."
Shinji smiles as he picks up Misato.
"Then let's get going," he tells them.
"Eevo!"
-x-
"…The doctors said he was going to the Pokémon Center and then the Poké Mart before going back to the gym," Asuka utters as they all walked down the street towards the second destination. "But why would he need to go back to the Poké Mart?"
"Probably feels the need to restock on essentials," suggested Kensuke. "One can never be too prepared for the unknown."
"It feels a little different here," utters Antonio as he looks around the streets. "I mean, it's like…some measure of joy disappeared."
"That happens when something terrible comes around," they all heard Shinji's voice and turned to see him with Hanmyo, looking a little pleased to see them. "But give it a while and the passion will return. It's good to see all of you."
"It's good to see you, too," Misato tells him, but is still concerned about him being out and about after four days of being bedridden due to the attack. "Have you gone to the Poké Mart already?"
"No, actually. We stopped by a flower shop so I could buy a bouquet for later."
"What do you need a bouquet for, Shinji?" Toji asks him.
"For the Magikarp that fell victim to Ursaring."
"Oh. Sorry, man."
"Don't be. Everyone got hurt that day. We honor them by giving thanks for what they did with their lives."
-x-
"…Hey, there's an update on that Ikari guy," said James to Jessie and Meowth as they were discussing their next plan to capture Pokémon. "Whoa."
"What?" Jessie questioned.
"He had an encounter with a violent Ghost Pokémon and defeated it."
"Did he catch it?" Meowth wanted to know.
"No, it doesn't say that he caught it, but he did end up in the hospital for four days due to a near-death experience. Apparently, the Ghost Pokémon had attacked him with the intent to end him."
"That is just evil." Jessie states.
"Wobbuffet," her Wobbuffet expresses.
"Huh?" Jessie and James responded.
"He says that Pokémon that knowingly do wrong to people give other Pokémon a bad reputation," Meowth translates. "Basically, if a Pokémon deliberately harms others, they make the rest of us look bad."
"Wob."
James decided not to share the fact that Shinji and the people with him four days ago saw a rare and powerful Pokémon that had, according to the witnesses, restored life to the Pokémon Trainer. If something of that sort actually happened, then the Pokémon they saw had to be very rare and powerful in order to do something amazing as save a life.
The ghost of an Ursaring that he caught that bit the dust over a day ago came back to try and kill him…and was then defeated and dragged away by other Ghost Pokémon, he thought as he looked out at the scenery below their balloon. We've been through crazier situations than one ghost with an attitude, and yet he manages to survive because of a rare and mysterious Pokémon native to this region. Another reason for why he's so tough and impossible for Team Rocket to contend with.
-x-
It was one thing to see a recording of Shinji honoring the deceased from over a year ago when he was in the Johto Region, but it was another thing altogether to bear witness to him tossing a bouquet into the river stream where several Magikarp had helped him and his Eevee to get away from his ghostly Ursaring. It was a silent moment for everyone present as he looked at the water. None of them were sure what he was thinking about.
It's odd to believe that he does this, Ritsuko thinks; she didn't really expect Shinji to have such respect towards the deceased like this. But then again, he has changed in the years since he ended up here, so this is just how he is now.
His father never really showed any respect towards her dead mother, but this young man had respect for some dead fish that, if they had lived, would have grown into massive sea serpents that were among the world's most infamous of beasts. The mere fact that he owned one such fish that grew into a scarlet version was probably a contributing factor to his respect towards such Pokémon. That and the additional fact that he respected life.
Rei and Asuka went over to him and saw tears streaming down his face; he really felt for the Magikarp that had been killed by the Ursaring.
"Karp!" They heard some commotion in the water and saw several Magikarp where Shinji dropped the bouquet. "Magikarp!"
Sometimes, Asuka had to wonder if Shinji had developed a special connection to this world that made him more in tune with Pokémon than she dared to suspect. She knew he cared a lot about his Eevee to the point where he chose not to evolve her among his other Pokémon, even caring for the Charizard he had caught as a Charmeleon that he nicknamed after her. Maybe she would have to be here for as long as he and Kensuke had before she developed her own connection, but it would've probably been worth it.
Rei had found it unusual for Magikarp to be so weak at first, but then become stronger over time before evolving into Gyarados, but she could see a little of how Shinji respected these fish to the point of honoring their efforts to help him during that dilemma with the rogue bear. It also reminded her that, like human beings, Pokémon were living creatures with thoughts and emotions all of their own; none of them were meant to live forever, and they left the feelings of loss when they departed.
The Magikarp swam away with the bouquet, taking it as a sign that their fellow Magikarp that lost their lives because of a fiend was being honored for their courage.
"I don't know how you don't let this weigh you down, Shinji," said Asuka to him. "How you don't let this…grief keep you from moving on."
"You have to accept that it's inevitable," he tells her. "Pokémon are various ranges of tough and enduring, but despite their many qualities and quirks, they're just like people and other creatures: They're not invincible. They're precious because they're not going to be around forever in your life…and what matters to you is all the more sacred because they don't last."
"Eevo!" Misato chirped, understanding as Shinji did.
Even if there were means to bring back Pokémon, not every method was capable of rivaling the power that was life itself, and not every Pokémon brought back was the same as before. There were attempts with prehistoric Pokémon like Kabuto and Aerodactyl, but the results varied due to their behavior, ranging from docile to vicious. And it was a reminder that, despite the advancements in science and technology, human beings were not meant to be gods.
"Anyone hungry?" Shinji asks them.
"Yeah," Misato tells him; during the whole time between heading to the research station and coming here to see him out of the hospital, most of them hadn't found the time to eat, and their bodies were the ones on an intravenous cocktail for the next three days.
"Yeah, something to eat would be good," Toji remarked.
"Intravenous resources can only help the body before the tastebuds need to sample flavors," Antonio states.
Shinji chuckled at their different responses that all added to the same conclusion: Everyone was hungry and needed something to east to get over the fact that in another world beyond this one, they were being sustained by nutrients being pumped directly into their bloodstreams for an extended period while they were subconsciously here with him.
-x-
Gendo wasn't sure whether to be impressed that Shinji had at least one Pokémon that despised him enough to want to cause him pain…or disgusted because said Pokémon failed to ruin the boy's chances of continuously defying what was his fate. Even as he searched through the posted videos that the Fourth Child had of the boy's ridiculous adventures in this other dimension that he was displaced in, he wasn't entirely sure which Pokémon it was that seemed willing to terrorize the brat. A handful of the Pokémon the boy had caught, many of which were caught on camera by the Fourth Child, all seemed like the kind of creature that could hold a grudge against a human and was capable of life-ending violence. But Gendo was particularly fascinated by the Shiny Gyarados that was nicknamed after the First Child, stated to be a very violent Pokémon of the water, but if he kept it with him much of the time, there was little doubt that it would try to hurt him on a whim.
"He has over a thousand Pokémon," he says, "and he had an issue with only one that wanted to kill him. Which one hated him that much that it sought to eliminate him?"
Unfortunately, because there were so many video posts, and he had very little interest in watching them all, along with the fact that he hadn't been told which Pokémon it was, Gendo wasn't sure which of the Pokémon Shinji had caught that had bitten the dust and came back from the dead to harm him.
-x-
Shinji had to admit that it was the first time he had seen his guardian drinking so much alternative beverages that she practically made herself sink enough to puke. While it wasn't alcohol, he was surprised that she could drink half her weight in fruit punch.
"Okay," he went as he held a bottle of regular water with some capsules to help clear her headache later, "I must've missed something here, but how old are you, Misato?"
"Oh, bite me, Shinji," she groaned, moving her head away from the trash bin. "I'm old enough to regret it."
"I wouldn't be surprised if you tried to drink some beer, though."
She accepted the bottle and pills from him.
"Honestly, I don't think I've been able to drink since you ended up here, Shinji," she confesses. "It's just been canned coffee."
"Heh. But since I'm not there, neither you or Asuka have been able to eat anything decent."
"It's as you said, you can't rush what you're doing."
But at least you're here, reminding me of what awaits me when I get back…and I will get back.
Except that Shinji couldn't rush the process of returning, no matter how much it grieved or annoyed those that chose to wait for him. While he was here, he operated on his own schedule and couldn't bend for anyone beyond this dimension. But he missed them in Tokyo-3. He missed that depressing city that he didn't see as his home.
"Shinji, I didn't want to ask you this because it was crossing a line that is sensitive for some people to be asked about…but…I need to know," Misato tells him.
"Ask me what?" He responds.
"When you were attacked…did you see anything?"
"Did I see anything?"
"Did you see anything that people are said to see when…they're about to go down that tunnel?"
She wanted to know if Shinji saw a white light, angels or demons. Did he get a glimpse at paradise or a sample of eternal suffering.
"No," he answers her, "but I was close enough get a glimpse at what that beautiful place in the sky is supposed to be like…before she tried to pull me away."
"Who's she?"
"My mother."
That was a revelation that Shinji knew he couldn't avoid, even though he wanted to forget it ever happened to begin with. In the moment he felt his heart stop, he felt himself leaving against his will. The second he thought he was going to see these pearly gates that were supposed to guard the heavens…and then found himself in the presence of his mother, who was not who he wanted to see.
"Shinji," she had said to him, "I need you to come with me."
Except he already knew what she wanted because of the aid of Psychic Pokémon…and wanted nothing to do with her ambitions.
"No, Mother," he told her, rejecting her request for him to go with her. "I know what you want…and I want no part of it. It's not a future I want. I don't want it."
"Shinji… I can show you how bright the future will be."
"After everything left is destroyed? After everyone else is broken down and reduced to pulp? No way, Mother. If your bright future means causing more suffering towards other people and the world, I want no part of it. I prefer to restore the planet rather than destroy it further. I'm going down a different path than the one you took, and I'm staying on it."
Even if there was a chance of none of what his parents desired coming true, Shinji couldn't risk them getting their way in the end. In the end, he had to resist them at all times, warn his friends that what he learned was not worth what NERV was established for. If they could hold the Angels in check for as long as possible, dispose of whatever was not worth protecting that was in the Geo-Front, since every other Angel that appeared always made it a point to go there, not the city, then the so-called "end of the world" could be prevented. And if he could bring the Pokémon he caught with him to their world, they could restore it so that life would go on, and a better future would be in store for everyone.
Misato was sympathetic to him; he nearly died because of one Pokémon that wanted to kill him, and his mother was still on about some future that came at a cost he wasn't willing to pay or even believe in because he hated what she and his father had chosen to do. If it had been herself, she would have made the same choice, even if it meant renouncing her parents for the monsters they had become.
"But then I saw a Pokémon alongside Xerneas that stood between her and me," Shinji reveals to her, "and it made its own decision to stand between her and her future."
"What Pokémon?" She questions.
"Arceus."
"What is Arceus?"
"A Mythical Pokémon that is associated with the Sinnoh Region as the one responsible for creating the universe. Basically, a god if you choose to see it that way. What do people say about gods? That they can do anything and everything they desire? First, there was only darkness…and then someone decreed that there was light, and then the universe was created? Arceus did the same, creating the universe and everything within it. If I had to fathom a guess, it was probably the reason I ended up here. Either way, I'm grateful that I'm here. I'm grateful that I get to see all of you. And I'm grateful that I became a Pokémon Trainer."
Shinji took out his Pokédex and showed Misato the Pokémon that he saw from his near-death experience, and it was exactly as he saw it.
"Arceus, the Alpha Pokémon," Dexter informed. "Revered in mythology around the Sinnoh Region, Arceus is believed to have been born from an egg before the universe was formed. Arceus is considered the master of the Lake Guardians and the Creation Trio."
"Whoa, if this Pokémon is the equivalent of a god, then it has to be very powerful for anyone to face," Misato says.
"Eevo!" Shinji's Eevee spoke up.
"Huh?"
"She says that I could probably face it and capture it if I met it again," Shinji translated. "Appreciate your vote of confidence, Misato."
"Eee!"
-x-
Rejected. Rejected by her own child…and all because he couldn't see the bright future for all of humanity…and he was encouraged to do so by two creatures she had never seen before in her life…but were clearly powerful in their own ways and were capable of intelligence. They looked at her and gestured their heads in the negative, as though her ambitions were not worth pursuing as he turned away from her and left. That was like having a knife stabbing her in the back and being told that your own kid resents you for not being there when you were supposed to…and knowing that they won't forgive you.
That was how Yui felt towards Shinji, and she wasn't sure how to progress from this. She still believed in her goal, but to know that Shinji wouldn't aid her in fulfilling it was hurtful. But where there was a will to proceed, there was a way to advance. And she would advance forward and show Shinji that the bright future for all of humanity would come.
What do you want, Shinji? She wonders, waiting for an opportunity to present itself to her in due time. What do you want?
"It's not a future I want, Mother," she recalls him saying to her when she felt his soul lingering between life and death. "I want no part in what you're doing."
-x-
"…You're quite the person to be facing after what happened four days ago," said Valerie to Shinji as they were on the gym floor for their rematch. "I expected you to still be recovering from that Ghost Pokémon incident."
"I don't let a ghost with a vendetta impede me from doing what I love," Shinji responds to her as his Eevee hopped onto his left shoulder.
"Eevo!" Misato cheered.
"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't. But tell me one thing: Is it really true that you had an encounter with the mythical Xerneas?"
"And if I said that it was true?"
"Then I'd say that you're among the best of Pokémon Trainers over the generations. If your life had been saved by such a Pokémon, then it also means you're destined for success."
"I believe in success being earned. Whenever you're ready to begin."
"Oh, I'm ready! Bring it!"
Shinji started with his Eevee…and Valerie sent out her Sylveon. For just a second, a moment in time, Shinji almost thought he saw his parents and his dead Ursaring on the opposite side of field, as if expecting him to fail, but then they were gone. He refused to let them get in his head and impede him from moving forward towards the Kalos League. If he was destined for success, then he had to prove he deserved it, that he and his Pokémon could obtain it.
"Begin!" The referee announced, and the rematch was set.
To be continued…
A/N: Yeah, it's likely that Shinji may not be fully recovered from his near-death experience, but for him, therapy would include getting back into what he loves most about being in the Pokémon world. The revelation that he had a brief encounter with his mother only makes their relationship similar to his relationship with his father; neither parent seems to understand what they've done to hurt him and cause him to reject their ambitions. Everyone else that comes to see Shinji and support him in his endeavors is a godsend for him to continue moving on; they are the reminder that he wants to make a different future possible in what he's doing and hopes it will be a better one from what other people desire. What do you think so far?